Growers:

• Whenever possible, the first time harvested flowers should be placed in any solution or water is following grading and bunching.  In this way, less solutions and less labor are used resulting in cost savings, while at the same time flowers often perform better.  Solutions that are utilized in greenhouses or fields are very difficult to keep clean and giving flowers a drink of dirty water can do more harm than good.

• Flowers should be at their proper low temperatures within 50 minutes of harvest, if not sooner.

• Use anti-ethylene products like MCP (1-methylchclopropene) or STS (silver thiosulfate) on all ethylene sensitive crops.  Click here (must be a member but signing up is free!) to review a list of the more ethylene sensitive floral crops.

• Bunch flowers such that all the cut stem ends are even and place the bunch tie at least 10 cm (4 inches) up from the cut stem ends.  By doing so, it is easier for bouquet manufacturers, wholesalers and/or retailers to recut every stem in a bunch.  Stems that are not recut have about a 50% greater possibility of dieing prematurely.

• Sell every flower by cultivar/variety name, not by flower color. Not all red roses are the same just as not all pink carnations are the same. Some cultivars/varieties have inherent good flower longevities while others have poor postharvest characteristics and therefore should be avoided. An example of a red rose that has good longevity is ‘Forever Young’. However, if one does not know the cultivar/variety name of flowers, how can one determine which ones are best or worst?

Wholesalers:

• Use rose and bulb specific flower foods to hydrate and/or hold roses and bulb flowers, respectively. Bulb flowers include tulips, alstroemeria, and lilies.

• Make sure incoming flowers are at their proper storage temperatures and if not, cool them down immediately even if it just means removing the box lids and placing them on shelves in coolers. After they are at their proper low temperatures, dry storage is generally better than wet storage in buckets, which allows flowers to be processed the same day they are to be marketed. Namely, flowers generally age faster when held wet compared to when they are held dry at their proper temperatures.

• Buy and sell every flower by cultivar/variety name for the same reasons noted above.

Retailers:

• As with wholesaler, use rose and bulb specific flower foods to hydrate and/or hold roses and bulb flowers, respectively. Bulb flowers include tulips, alstroemeria, and lilies. In addition and most importantly, use flower foods at the correct concentrations as instructed on their respective labels.

• Guarantee flowers by the number of days they should last at consumer level. If you do not have the confidence that most flowers will last at least 5 to 7 days in the hands of consumers, better look for another profession or change your ways you buy and handle flowers to improve flower longevity.

• Buy every flower by cultivar/variety name for the same reasons noted above.

• When floral foam is used, soak it in flower food solution, not plain water, and do not use foam soaked yesterday or before for today’s flowers.

• Every cut flower unit sold from single stems to elaborate arrangements must include flower food packets.